The present invention relates to methods for producing coated chewing gum products. More particularly, the invention relates to producing coated chewing gum products containing a high-intensity sweetener in the coating. Preferably, an antacid is also added to the chewing gum coating such that it will have a fast release from chewing gum for maximum effectiveness.
Coated chewing gum products are well known. Many prior art patents disclose chewing gum products coated with sugar sweeteners or polyol sweeteners. U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,838, for example, discloses a method of applying a sugarless coating to chewing gum. The coating may include calcium carbonate as an anti-sticking agent. Synthetic sweeteners, including many different high-intensity sweeteners, are also suggested for use in the coating.
It has been discovered that some high-intensity sweeteners, particularly aspartame (APM), are unstable and degrade while in the coating syrup. Often the coating syrup is made in advance and held at an elevated temperature for several hours until it is used.
Another area of interest is the use of medicaments in chewing gum. In certain embodiments, it is contemplated that an active medicament that is added to the chewing gum is generally released very readily. An active medicament may be added to the gum coating which is a water soluble matrix such that, during the chewing period, the medicament may be released quickly, resulting in a fast release. This would allow a chewing gum coating to be a carrier for an active medicament with these fast release characteristics.
It is of course known to provide active medicaments to individuals for various purposes. These medicaments can be used to treat diseases and as such are typically referred to as drugs or medicaments. Likewise, the drugs or medicaments can be used for preventative purposes. Still, it is known to provide medicaments to an individual for a variety of non-medical purposes including enhancing performance or maintaining health.
There are a great variety of such medicaments. These medicaments run the gamut from stimulants such as caffeine to drugs such as analgesics, tranquilizers and cardiovascular products, as well as vitamins, minerals, and supplements. Some such medicaments, such as antacids, are taken on an xe2x80x9cas neededxe2x80x9d basis while other medicaments must be taken at regular intervals by the individual.
Antacids are used to relieve gastrointestinal disturbances. These antacids are generally insoluble inorganic salts such as calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, or aluminum hydroxide. These antacids readily neutralize acids in the GI tract and are commonly available in or as antacid tablets.
Previously, antacids have been added to chewing gum and in a chewing gum coating, but have not been totally consumer acceptable. The large amount of active antacid needed for effectiveness did not lend itself to giving a good tasting product. Also, the presence of sugar in the antacid chewing gum or coated on the chewing gum was not consumer acceptable. However, new types of sugarless coated chewing gum preparations with high-intensity sweeteners and quality flavors can be effective to make new antacid-type chewing gum preparations that can be more consumer acceptable.
It has been found that by adding the antacid to a gum coating, the antacid is quickly released from the chewing gum into saliva and into the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, one of the difficulties that has been encountered in adding an antacid to a chewing gum coating is that the antacid, being basic, raises the pH of the coating syrup. This has been found to exacerbate the problem mentioned above regarding degradation of some high-intensity sweeteners used in coating syrups.
Thus, there is a need for a way to make coated chewing gum products that include high-intensity sweeteners that allows the high-intensity sweetener to be well distributed in the coating but avoids any degradation of unstable high-intensity sweeteners. It would especially be an improvement if an antacid could be included in a chewing gum coating without causing degradation of high-intensity sweeteners also used in the coating.
It has been found that if a high-intensity sweetener is mixed into a separate coating syrup from the main coating syrup that needs to be held at an elevated temperature, the separate syrup does not need to be heated and the high-intensity sweetener has less degradation. Also, an antacid like calcium carbonate can be added to the main coating syrup and thus be included in the gum coating without exacerbating a problem of the high-intensity sweetener degradation.
In a first aspect, the invention is a method of making coated chewing gum products comprising the steps of: providing chewing gum cores; providing a first coating syrup comprising a bulk sweetener; providing a second coating syrup separate from the first coating syrup and comprising a high-intensity sweetener; and applying the first and second coating syrups to the cores and drying the syrups to produce a coating on the cores.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of delivering an antacid to an individual that provides for relief of symptoms caused by gastrointestinal disturbances. It is believed that providing the antacid in a chewing gum coating makes it more effective. Thus, an advantage of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method of administering an antacid to an individual at a lower level than is typically administered orally while still achieving the same effect.
Low levels of calcium carbonate in the coating are also useful. In a malitol coating, added calcium carbonate helps to reduce chipping of the final pellet coating. In a xylitol coated product, added calcium carbonate gives an improved pellet crunch. Other improvements in crunch, smoothness and shelf life may be found when other polyols are used for a coated chewing gum.
The method of the present invention involves the use of at least two separate coating syrups. The first syrup will include a bulk sweetener. The second syrup will include a high-intensity sweetener. Additional coating syrups may also be used, such as finishing syrups, which also include a bulk sweetener. When an antacid is to be included in the coating, it will preferably be included in the first coating syrup. Preferably the first coating syrup is essentially free of high-intensity sweeteners, meaning that the syrup does not contain any, or contains such a low amount of high-intensity sweetener that the high-intensity sweetener does not provide a perceptible additional sweetness.
The first and second coating syrups are applied to chewing gum cores to form the coated chewing gum product. The application can be sequential or simultaneous. Simultaneous application includes applying the two syrups at the same time through different application mechanisms, or premixing the syrups and applying them through a common application mechanism. The preferred application method includes applying the syrups separately, but alternately. For example, one of the coating syrups may be applied both before and after the application of the other coating syrup. Specifically, the first coating syrup may be applied, followed by application of the second coating syrup, followed by further application of the first coating syrup.
This type of application will generally mean that the coating syrups are held in separate tanks from the time they are prepared until they are applied to the cores. If the syrups are mixed and applied together they should preferably be mixed just prior to being applied to the chewing gum cores. The amount of time that they may be mixed before application will depend on the rate that the high-intensity sweetener degrades. Preferably they will be mixed for less than about 30 minutes prior to application.
Preferably the first coating syrup is held for use at an average temperature of at least 100xc2x0 F. (38xc2x0 C.), more preferably at least 130xc2x0 F. ((54xc2x0 C.) and most preferably at an average temperature of at least 150xc2x0 F. (66xc2x0 C.). The average holding time between preparation and application of the first coating syrup will preferably be at least two hours, more preferably at least four hours. Average holding times and temperatures take into account the fact that coating syrups are usually made in batches and used up over a period of time. For example, if a coating syrup were made at 8:00 a.m., and used at a steady rate from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the average holding time would be five hours. The second coating syrup is preferably held at an average temperature of less than 90xc2x0 F. (32xc2x0 C.) and for an average period of less than 4 hours.
The second coating syrup will preferably also include a bulk sweetener at a lower level than in the first coating syrup. To make a preferred second coating syrup, a high-intensity sweetener is blended in a syrup with a portion of a bulk sweetener, preferably a polyol. Preferably the sweeteners in the second syrup are used at a ratio of about 5:1 to about 1:5, more preferably about 1:1, high-intensity sweetener: bulk sweetener. The second coating syrup may preferably be about 50% solids and be held at room temperature. Since aspartame is not highly soluble at room temperature, the preferred second coating syrup is a solution of the polyol with aspartame suspended in water. A coating syrup that includes undissolved compounds is referred to as a suspension syrup.
As mentioned above, products made by the present invention may preferably include an antacid, such as calcium carbonate. The antacid will preferably be included as part of the first coating syrup. A typical first syrup may contain a polyol, calcium carbonate and whitener, and a typical second syrup may contain the high-intensity sweetener and a polyol, but no calcium carbonate. This keeps the coating syrup containing calcium carbonate separate from the coating syrup containing aspartame. Once the coating syrups are applied and dried, degradation of aspartame is eliminated or substantially reduced.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the antacid is contained in the coating of chewing gum products, which allows a chewing gum coating to be a carrier for an antacid. Accordingly, as the chewing gum is chewed, the active antacid in the gum coating is released into the saliva and ingested to give relief from gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances in the GI tract.
The preferred antacids are generally carbonate or hydroxide salts of calcium, magnesium, aluminum, or bismuth, and are generally very water insoluble. Other antacids such as sodium bicarbonate, calcium bicarbonate, and other carbonates, silicates, and phosphates are included in this invention. When these materials are mixed with acids in the GI tract, the acids are readily neutralized to give relief from GI disturbances. Some typical consumer antacid products are: TUMS, which contains calcium carbonate; MILK of MAGNESIA, which contains magnesium hydroxide, and MAALOX PLUS, which contains a combination of aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide.
For antacid chewing gum products, calcium carbonate is the most preferred antacid material. This is mostly due to the fact that the most common inert filler in chewing gum base is calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate, along with talc, which is used in talc bases that are used for some types of gum products that use food acids to give tartness to flavors, have been used as fillers in gum base and gum products for many years.
Chewing gum bases that contain calcium carbonate do not readily release their calcium carbonate during chewing. Since calcium carbonate (or in other cases talc) is very water insoluble, it releases from gum either very slowly or over extended chewing. As a result, this calcium carbonate is not effective as an antacid. Generally, when calcium carbonate is added to a gum formulation separate from the gum base, calcium carbonate becomes intimately mixed with the base during chewing and also does not release. However, when calcium carbonate is used in the coating of the chewing gum, it does become available in the oral cavity and is ingested to be an effective antacid.
In the past, suspension coatings with calcium carbonate for an antacid gum were made with sugar. Sugar with its naturally sweet taste masked some of the off-taste due to the use of high levels of calcium carbonate. With the advent of new coating technologies using less sweet sugarless polyols instead of sugar, the sweet taste of the coating is significantly reduced. In some coatings where xylitol is used, it is sufficiently sweet as a coating, but other polyols such as maltitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose, sorbitol, or erythritol, are not. When the coating contains high levels of calcium carbonate, all of the polyols lack sufficient sweetness to give a good tasting product. As a result, high-intensity sweeteners need to be added to the coating containing calcium carbonate to give a high-quality, consumer-acceptable product.
Use of high levels of calcium carbonate of greater than about 10% in a suspension coating, preferably greater than about 15% in a suspension coating, causes an increase of the pH of the suspension coating solution. At pH""s of about 6 and higher, many of the high-intensity sweeteners such as acesulfame K, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamates, glycyrrhizin, or thaumatin are stable in this type of suspension, but dipeptide sweeteners such as aspartame (commonly sold under the tradename Nutrasweet), alitame and neotame, are less stable. For example, a maltitol coating syrup containing: 64% maltitol, 19.5% solution of gum arabic, 0.5% titanium dioxide, 0.35% aspartame, and 15.65% water has a pH of 4.8. When stored at 167xc2x0 F. (75xc2x0 C.) for 7 hours, 11% aspartame is lost. When 11% of the maltitol is replaced with calcium carbonate, the pH increases to 6.0, and when stored at 167xc2x0 F. (75xc2x0 C.) for 7 hours, 80% of the aspartame is lost. Even when coating syrups with aspartame, but without an antacid like calcium carbonate, are held for many hours before use, aspartame is lost. The invention will be most useful when the high-intensity sweetener is one that degrades by at least 5% if mixed into a syrup and held at 167xc2x0 F. (75xc2x0 C.) for 7 hours. The dipeptide sweeteners are particularly subject to such degradation.
For coated antacid chewing gum type products, the high level of calcium carbonate or other antacid in the coating modifies the taste quality and gum texture. The addition of high-intensity sweeteners to the gum coating improves the taste of the finished product. This also occurs in sugar coated gums as well as polyol coated gums, so aspartame or other high-intensity sweeteners may also be added to sugar coated gums with calcium carbonate or other antacids.
In general, a chewing gum composition typically comprises a water-soluble bulk portion, a water-insoluble chewable gum base portion and typically water-insoluble flavoring agents. The water-soluble portion dissipates with a portion of the flavoring agent over a period of time during chewing. The gum base portion is retained in the mouth throughout the chew.
The insoluble gum base generally comprises elastomers, resins, fats and oils, softeners and inorganic fillers. The gum base may or may not include wax. The insoluble gum base can constitute approximately 5% to about 95% by weight of the chewing gum, more commonly the gum base comprises 10% to about 50% of the gum, and in some preferred embodiments approximately 25% to about 35% by weight, of the chewing gum. In pellet gum center formulations, the level of insoluble gum base may be much higher.
In a particular embodiment, the chewing gum base of the present invention contains about 20% to about 60% by weight synthetic elastomer, about 0% to about 30% by weight natural elastomer, about 5% to about 55% by weight elastomer plasticizer, about 4% to about 35% by weight filler, about 5% to about 35% by weight softener, and optional minor amounts (about 1% or less by weight) of miscellaneous ingredients such as colorants, antioxidants, etc.
Synthetic elastomers may include, but are not limited to, polyisobutylene with GPC weight average molecular weights of about 10,000 to about 95,000, isobutylene-isoprene copolymer (butyl elastomer), styrene-butadiene, copolymers having styrene-butadiene ratios of about 1:3 to about 3: 1, polyvinyl acetate having GPC weight average molecular weights of about 2,000 to about 90,000, polyisoprene, polyethylene, vinyl acetatexe2x80x94vinyl laurate copolymers having vinyl laurate contents of about 5% to about 50% by weight of the copolymer, and combinations thereof.
Preferred ranges are: 50,000 to 80,000 GPC weight average molecular weight for polyisobutylene; 1:1 to 1:3 bound styrene-butadiene for styrene-budadiene; 10,000 to 65,000 GBC weight average molecular weight for polyvinyl acetate, with the higher molecular weight polyvinyl acetates typically used in bubble gum base; and a vinyl laurate content of 10-45% for vinyl acetate-vinyl laurate.
Natural elastomers may include natural rubber such as smoked or liquid latex and guayule, as well as natural gums such as jelutong, lechi caspi, perillo, sorva, massaranduba balata, massaranduba chocolate, nispero, rosindinha, chicle, gutta hang kang, and combinations thereof. The preferred synthetic elastomer and natural elastomer concentrations vary depending on whether the chewing gum in which the base is used is adhesive or conventional, bubble gum or regular gum, as discussed below. Preferred natural elastomers include jelutong, chicle, sorva and massaranduba balata.
Elastomer plasticizers may include, but are not limited to, natural rosin esters such as glycerol esters or partially hydrogenated rosin, glycerol esters of polymerized rosin, glycerol esters of partially dimerized rosin, glycerol esters of rosin, pentaerythritol esters of partially hydrogenated rosin, methyl and partially hydrogenated methyl esters of rosin, pentaerythritol esters of rosin; synthetics such as terpene resins derived from alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and/or d-limonene; and any suitable combinations of the foregoing. The preferred elastomer plasticizers will also vary depending on the specific application, and on the type of elastomer which is used.
Fillers/texturizers may include magnesium and calcium carbonate, ground limestone, silicate types such as magnesium and aluminum silicate, clay, alumina, talc, titanium oxide, mono-, di- and tri-calcium phosphate, cellulose polymers, such as wood, and combinations thereof
Softeners/emulsifiers may include tallow, hydrogenated tallow, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, cocoa butter, glycerol monostearate, glycerol triacetate, lecithin, mono-, di- and triglycerides, acetylated monoglycerides, fatty acids (e.g. stearic, palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids), and combinations thereof
Colorants and whiteners may include FDandC-type dyes and lakes, fruit and vegetable extracts, titanium dioxide, and combinations thereof.
The base may or may not include wax. An example of a wax-free gum base is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,500, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to a water-insoluble gum base portion, a typical chewing gum composition includes a water-soluble bulk portion and one or more flavoring agents. The water-soluble portion can include bulk sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners, flavoring agents, softeners, emulsifiers, colors, acidulants, fillers, antioxidants, and other components that provide desired attributes.
Softeners are added to the chewing gum in order to optimize the chewability and mouth feel of the gum. The softeners, which are also known as plasticizers and plasticizing agents, generally constitute between approximately 0.5% to about 15% by weight of the chewing gum. The softeners may include glycerin, lecithin, and combinations thereof. Aqueous sweetener solutions such as those containing sorbitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, corn syrup and combinations thereof, may also be used as softeners and binding agents in chewing gum.
Bulk sweeteners include both sugar and sugarless components. Bulk sweeteners typically constitute about 5% to about 95% by weight of the chewing. gum, more typically, about 20% to about 80% by weight, and more commonly, about 30% to about 60% by weight of the gum. Sugar sweeteners generally include saccharide-containing components commonly known in the chewing gum art, including but not limited to, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, dextrin, dried invert sugar, fructose, galactose, corn syrup solids, and the like, alone or in combination. Sugarless sweeteners include, but are not limited to, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, maltitol, and the like, alone or in combination.
High-intensity artificial sweeteners can also be used, alone or in combination, with the above. Preferred sweeteners include, but are not limited to, sucralose, aspartame, N-substituted APM derivatives such as neotame, salts of acesulfame, alitame, saccharin and its salts, cyclamic acid and its salts, glycyrrhizin, dihydrochalcones, thaumatin, monellin, and the like, alone or in combination. In order to provide longer lasting sweetness and flavor perception, it may be desirable to encapsulate or otherwise control the release of at least a portion of the artificial sweetener. Such techniques as wet granulation, wax granulation, spray drying, spray chilling, fluid bed coating, coacervation, and fiber extrusion may be used to achieve the desired release characteristics.
Combinations of sugar and/or sugarless sweeteners may be used in chewing gum. Additionally, the softener may also provide additional sweetness such as with aqueous sugar or alditol solutions.
If a low calorie gum is desired, a low caloric bulking agent can be used. Examples of low caloric bulking agents include: polydextrose; oligofructose (Raftilose); inulin (Raftilin); fructooligosaccharides (NutraFlora); palatinose oligosaccharide; guar gum hydrolysate (BeneFiber); or indigestible dextrin (Fibersol). However, other low calorie bulking agents can be used.
A variety of flavoring agents can also be used, if desired. The flavor can be used in amounts of about 0.1 to about 15 weight percent of the gum, and preferably, about 0.2% to about 5% by weight. Flavoring agents may include essential oils, synthetic flavors or mixtures thereof including, but not limited to, oils derived from plants and fruits such as citrus oils, fruit essences, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, other mint oils, clove oil, oil of wintergreen, anise and the like. Artificial flavoring agents and components may also be used. Natural and artificial flavoring agents may be combined in any sensorially acceptable fashion.
In general, chewing gum is manufactured by sequentially adding the various chewing gum ingredients to a commercially available mixer known in the art. After the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed, the gum mass is discharged from the mixer and shaped into the desired form such as rolling sheets and cutting into sticks, extruding into chunks or casting into pellets, which are then coated or panned.
Generally, the ingredients are mixed by first melting the gum base and adding it to the running mixer. The base may also be melted in the mixer itself. Color or emulsifiers may also be added at this time. A softener such as glycerin may also be added at this time, along with syrup and a portion of the bulking agent. Further parts of the bulking agent are added to the mixer. Flavoring agents are typically added with the final portion of the bulking agent. Other optional ingredients are added to the batch in a typical fashion, well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
The entire mixing procedure typically takes from five to fifteen minutes, but longer mixing times may sometimes be required. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations of the above described procedure may be followed.
After the ingredients are mixed, the gum mass is formed into pellets or balls. Pellet or ball gum is prepared as conventional chewing gum but formed into pellets that are pillow shaped, or into balls. The pellets/balls are used as cores for the coated product. The cores can be sugar or polyol coated or panned by conventional panning techniques to make a unique coated pellet gum. The weight of the coating may be about 20% to about 50% of the weight of the finished product, but may be as much as 75% of the total gum product.
Conventional panning procedures generally coat with sucrose, but recent advances in panning have allowed use of other carbohydrate materials to be used in place of sucrose. Some of these components include, but are not limited to, sugars such as dextrose, maltose, palatinose, and lactitol; or sugarless bulk sweeteners such as xylitol, sorbitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose, erythritol, maltitol, and other new polyols (also referred to as alditols) or combinations thereof. The coating may thus be a sugar coating or sugarless. These materials may be blended with panning modifiers including, but not limited to, gum arabic, maltodextrins, corn syrup, gelatin, cellulose type materials like carboxymethyl cellulose or hydroxymethyl cellulose, starch and modified starches, vegetables gums like alginates, locust bean gum, guar gum, and gum tragacanth, insoluble carbonates like calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate and talc. Antitack agents may also be added as panning modifiers, which allow the use of a variety of carbohydrates and sugar alcohols to be used in the development of new panned or coated gum products. Flavors may also be added with the sugar or sugarless coating to yield unique product characteristics.
Another type of pan coating could also be used to complete the coating process. This technique is referred to as a film coating and is more common for pharmaceuticals than in chewing gum, but procedures are similar. A polymer like shellac, zein, or cellulose type material is applied onto a pellet-type product forming a thin film on the surface of the product. The film is applied by mixing the polymer, plasticizer and a solvent (pigments are optional) and spraying the mixture onto the pellet surface. This is done in conventional type panning equipment, or in more advanced side-vented coating pans. When a solvent like an alcohol is used, extra precautions are needed to prevent fires and explosions, and specialized equipment must be used.
Some film polymers can use water as the solvent in film coating. Recent advances in polymer research and in film coating technology eliminates the problem associated with the use of solvents in coating. These advances make it possible to apply aqueous films to a pellet or chewing gum product. This film may also contain a flavor along with a polymer and plasticizer. The high-intensity sweetener can also be dissolved or suspended in the aqueous solvent and coated on the surface with the aqueous film.
After a coating film with a sweetener is applied to a chewing gum product, a hard shell sugar or polyol coating may then be applied over the film coated product. In some instances a soft shell sugar or polyol coating may also be used over the film coated product. The level of film coating applied to a pellet gum may be generally about 0.5% to about 3% of the gum product. The level of overcoating of the hard or soft shell may be about 20% to about 60%. When the high-intensity sweetener is added with the film coating and not with the sugar/polyol coating, better control of the amount of high-intensity sweetener in the product may be obtained.
As noted above, the coating may contain ingredients such as flavoring agents, as well as dispersing agents, coloring agents, film formers and binding agents. Flavoring agents contemplated by the present invention include those commonly known in the art such as essential oils, synthetic flavors or mixtures thereof, including but not limited to oils derived from plants and fruits such as citrus oils, fruit essences, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, other mint oils, clove oil, oil of wintergreen, anise and the like. The flavoring agents may be used in an amount such that the coating will contain from about 0.2% to about 3% flavoring agent, and preferably from about 0.7% to about 2.0% flavoring agent.
High-intensity sweeteners contemplated for use in the coating include but are not limited to synthetic substances, saccharin, thaumatin, alitame, saccharin salts, aspartame, N-substituted APM derivatives such as neotame, sucralose and acesulfame-K. The high-intensity sweetener may be added to the coating syrup in an amount such that the coating will contain from about 0.01% to about 2.0%, and preferably from about 0.1% to about 1.0% high-intensity sweetener. Preferably the high-intensity sweetener is not encapsulated.
Dispersing agents are often added to syrup coatings for the purpose of whitening and tack reduction. Dispersing agents contemplated by the present invention to be employed in the coating syrup include titanium dioxide, talc, or any other antistick compound. Titanium dioxide is a presently preferred dispersing agent of the present invention. The dispersing agent may be added to the coating syrup in amounts such that the coating will contain from about 0.1% to about 1.0%, and preferably from about 0.3% to about 0.6% of the agent.
When low or high amounts of calcium carbonate or other antacid is used, the calcium carbonate is dispersed or suspended in the coating syrup that contains the sugar or polyol. Generally, as calcium carbonate is increased, the sugar or polyol is decreased. Levels of calcium carbonate used may be as low as 5% of the total solids or as high as 50% of the total solids in the syrup, and more preferably will comprise about 10% to about 40% of the total solids.
Coloring agents are preferably added directly to the syrup in the dye or lake form. Coloring agents contemplated by the present invention include food quality dyes. Film formers preferably added to the syrup include methyl cellulose, gelatins, hydroxypropyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose and the like and combinations thereof. Binding agents may be added either as an initial coating on the chewing gum center or may be added directly into the syrup. Binding agents contemplated by the present invention include gum arabic, gum talha (another type of acacia), alginate, cellulosics, vegetable gums and the like.
The coating is initially present as a liquid syrup which contains from about 30% to about 80% or 85% of the coating ingredients previously described herein, and from about 15% or 20% to about 70% of a solvent such as water. In general, the coating process is carried out in a rotating pan. Sugar or sugarless gum center tablets to be coated are placed into the rotating pan to form a moving mass.
The material or syrup which will eventually form the coating is applied or distributed over the gum center tablets. Flavoring agents may be added before, during and after applying the syrup to the gum centers. Once the coating has dried to form a hard surface, additional syrup additions can be made to produce a plurality of coatings or multiple layers of hard coating.
In a hard coating panning procedure, syrup is added to the gum center tablets at a temperature range of from about 100xc2x0 F. (38xc2x0 C.) to about 240xc2x0 F. (116xc2x0 C.). Preferably, the syrup temperature is from about 130xc2x0 F. (54xc2x0 C.) to about 200xc2x0 F. (94xc2x0 C.) throughout the process in order to prevent the polyol or sugar in the syrup from crystallizing. The syrup may be mixed with, sprayed upon, poured over, or added to the gum center tablets in any way known to those skilled in the art.
In general, a plurality of layers is obtained by applying single coats, allowing the layers to dry, and then repeating the process. The amount of solids added by each coating step depends chiefly on the concentration of the coating syrup. Any number of coats may be applied to the gum center tablet. Preferably, no more than about 75-100 coats are applied to the gum center tablets. The present invention contemplates applying an amount of syrup sufficient to yield a coated comestible containing about 10% to about 65% coating.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that in order to obtain a plurality of coated layers, a plurality of premeasured aliquots of coating syrup may be applied to the gum center tablets. It is contemplated, however, that the volume of aliquots of syrup applied to the gum center tablets may vary throughout the coating procedure.
Once a coating of syrup is applied to the gum center tablets, the present invention contemplates drying the wet syrup in an inert medium. A preferred drying medium comprises air. Preferably, forced drying air contacts the wet syrup coating in a temperature range of from about 70xc2x0 F. (21xc2x0 C.) to about 115xc2x0 F. (46xc2x0 C.). More preferably, the drying air is in the temperature range of from about 80xc2x0 F. (27xc2x0 C.) to about 100xc2x0 F. (38xc2x0 C.). The invention also contemplates that the drying air possess a relative humidity of less than about 15 percent. Preferably, the relative humidity of the drying air is less than about 8 percent.
The drying air may be passed over and admixed with the syrup coated gum centers in any way commonly known in the art. Preferably, the drying air is blown over and around or through the bed of the syrup coated gum centers at a flow rate, for large scale operations, of about 2800 cubic feet per minute. If lower quantities of material are being processed, or if smaller equipment is used, lower flow rates would be used.
The present invention also contemplates the application of powder material after applying an aliquot of coating syrup to help build up the coating.
For many years, flavors have been added to a sugar coating of pellet gum to enhance the overall flavor of gum. These flavors include spearmint flavor, peppermint flavor, wintergreen flavor, and fruit flavors. These flavors are generally preblended with the coating syrup just prior to applying it to the core or added together to the core in one or more coating applications in a revolving pan containing the cores. Generally, the coating syrup is very hot, about 130xc2x0 F. (54xc2x0 C.) to 200xc2x0 F. (93xc2x0 C.), and the flavor may volatilize if preblended with the coating syrup too early.
The first coating syrup is preferably applied to the gum cores as a hot liquid, the sugar or polyol allowed to crystallize, and the coating then dried with warm, dry air. As noted above, the second coating syrup is preferably held at ambient temperature, and can be applied simultaneous or sequentially with the first coating syrup. Aliquots of both syrups are preferably applied in about 30 to 80 applications to obtain a hard shell coated product having an increased weight gain of about 25% to 75%. A flavor is applied with one, two, three or even four or more of these coating applications. Each time flavor is added, several non-flavored coatings are applied to cover the flavor before the next flavor coat is applied. This reduces volatilization of the flavor during the coating process.
For mint flavors such spearmint, peppermint and wintergreen, some of the flavor components are volatilized, but sufficient flavor remains to give a product having a strong, high impact flavor. Fruit flavors, that may contain esters, are more easily volatilized and may be flammable and/or explosive and therefore, generally these type of fruit flavors are not used in coatings.